Boys basketball: Biloxi gets revenge on St. Martin, 70-56

BILOXI --- St. Martin recorded its first-ever
boys basketball win against Biloxi earlier this month, but the Indians started a new
streak Friday with a 70-56 victory.

With the win, Biloxi improved to 15-3 and 4-1 in
Division 7-6A play, while St. Martin dropped to 20-3 and 4-1. However, the
Yellow Jackets still own the tiebreaker against the Indians based on the 63-47
win on Jan. 8.

After Friday's 14-point loss, St. Martin holds a
two-point differential and will secure the No. 1 seed for the division
tournament with a win at George County on Feb. 5.

''Tip your hat to Biloxi, they outplayed us,''
St. Martin coach Charlie Pavlus said. ''We beat them at home and they beat us
at home.

''If you score 56 points, it should be enough to
win. But the difference in the game was the first quarter. We got down early
and you have to credit Biloxi.''

The Indians opened the game with a 3-pointer by
TaVonn Tyson and ended the quarter on a dunk in transition by Zach Parker to
take a 24-7 lead. Biloxi never trailed following Tyson's 3-pointer.

But the Yellow Jackets were able to trim
the deficit to 29-18 on a three-point play by Jamond Franklin in the second
quarter. Biloxi, however, closed out the first half with a 7-0 run that
featured five points from Tyson to take a 41-27 at the half.

Elluah Hopkins, a 6-foot-5 forward, scored six
points and had three rebounds in the first quarter for the Indians.

''Hopkins didn't play in the first game and he
picked up every loose ball in the first quarter,'' Pavlus said. ''They
outscored us by 17 points in the first quarter. That was the difference.''

In the third quarter, Biloxi built a 50-30 lead
at the 4:08 mark on a 3-pointer by Tyson and the Yellow Jackets suddenly found
themselves playing for the point differential to secure the top-seed.

St. Martin entered the fourth quarter down 58-40
before trimming the lead to 60-50 on a three-point play by Ed Simpson with 2:52
to play. Biloxi then hit 8-of-10 free throws to push the lead to 68-53 with
1:22 to play.

With 25 seconds left in the game - and St.
Martin down 70-56 - Pavlus called a timeout and told his team not to foul.

''After getting down by 17, we were able to make
a little comeback,'' Pavlus said. ''I called the timeout because we were down
14 and I knew we had the points needed to get the No. 1 seed.

''We played hard up to the last 25 seconds. We
will tip our hat to Biloxi and take the No. 1 seed and move on.''

Tyson led Biloxi with a game-high 26 points and
Garrett Robinson added 13. Franklin paced St. Martin, which shot 19-of-44 from
the field, with 22 points and Simpson chipped in 14.

St. Martin faces West Harrison in HoopsFest at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum at 5 p.m. Saturday. Biloxi takes on Callaway at 8:30 p.m.